|
Overseas experience
Genetically modified canolas have been planted in Canada since 1996, and now represent around 85 per cent of the country’s canola crop. Since 1996 production has increased 40 per cent and average yields have increased 27 per cent. In a grower survey conducted in 2001, farmers chose to grow GM canolas for easier and better weed control, better yields and reduced costs.
Australian potential
Conservation Farming Systems and Canola, a report by Dr Robert Norton in 2003 stated that the uptake of GM canola would result in an “increase in canola and wheat production worth $135 million to the Australian grains industry,” and that the “increased production could be achieved while making the canola industry more sustainable through better integrated weed management and soil conservation practices.”
The report above was updated in 2007, and according to the latest version, Canola and Australian Farming Systems, if half of the Australian canola crop was sown to GM canolas, 640 tonnes less triazine herbicides would be used each year and an extra 225,000 hectares of canola would be grown by direct drilling or minimum tillage; average national canola yields would increase eight per cent; an additional 200,000 hectares of canola could be grown in low rainfall areas; and, wheat production (following canola) would increase by 80,000 tonnes on the additional canola production area.
According to a long-term trial undertaken by Professor Jim Pratley at Charles Sturt University in NSW, which compared the yield and economic performance of a GM herbicide tolerant canola variety with conventional canola varieties over a typical five-year crop rotation system, the GM canola consistently delivered superior weed control, higher yields and oil quality and better profits when compared to current common canola varieties grown under conventional weed management systems.
A 2008 ABARE report, notes that the potential benefits of GM crop adoption in Australia include yield increases; cheaper and more flexible herbicide use options; reduced costs relating to herbicides, labour, machinery use, and time; environmental and occupational health and safety benefits for on-farm workers; and, potential increases in off-farm incomes. Additional costs outlined include higher seed prices, technology fees and restrictive user agreements.
In simulation scenarios examining the impact of adopting only GM canola crops, the report considers two alternative adoption time lines: early adoption (from 2008-09) and delayed adoption (from 2013-14). The most positive economic benefits are predicted for in NSW (excluding the Murray Catchment Management Area which is considered separately), at $273 million (in 2006-07 dollars) over 10 years to 2017-18. This is reduced to a benefit of $121 million in the delayed adoption scenario.
Significant economic benefits of adopting GM canola are also projected for other states. For example, the estimated economic benefit to Western Australia from adopting GM canola from 2008-09 for the next 10 years would be around $180 million. Similarly, the cumulative benefit to South Australia from adopting canola over the same period is estimated to be around $115 million. Delaying the adoption of GM canola for five years would lead to an estimated forgone benefit of $97 million (in 2006-07 dollars) for Western Australia and a loss of $66 million for South Australia.
|
